Avian Flu

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Margaret Beckett) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	In my oral Statement to the House on Wednesday 26 October I said that the Chief Veterinary Officer and I had ordered a general review of our quarantine arrangements and procedures to be undertaken. I am pleased to announce today that Professor Nigel Dimmock, Emeritus Professor of Virology at Warwick University has agreed to chair the review.
	The terms of reference for the review are:
	to review avian quarantine arrangements and procedures for captive birds; and
	to make recommendations on any changes needed to policies or procedures, including guidance, to improve biosecurity, compliance with relevant legislation and clarity of accountabilities
	The review will be led by Professor Dimmock and the membership will be drawn from independent experts in a range of fields including virology, logistics, veterinary science and animal behaviour. The review team will examine the current arrangements for the quarantine of captive birds; they will be able to talk to practitioners and experts in the field as well as examining existing guidance and procedures. They may also want to visit quarantine premises.
	Debby Reynolds, the Chief Vet, and I have asked Professor Dimmock to report his findings as speedily as possible. We hope to receive his report, which we will publish, within around one month.
	I am most grateful to Professor Dimmock for taking on this important task. The advice of his expert review team will enable us to ensure that our avian quarantine arrangements are as up to date and effective as they can be in the face of the significant challenges we face from the rapid worldwide spread of highly pathogenic zoonotic disease.

Care Homes: Office of Fair Trading Report

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Gerry Sutcliffe) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	We welcomed this Office of Fair Trading report, which was published on 18 May 2005. The report, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House, made wide-ranging recommendations for both regulatory and non-regulatory solutions to problems identified with the care homes market. These have been broadly accepted by government, devolved administrations and regulators. The Government's action plan, which relates to England, has been placed in the Libraries of the House. Responsibility for care services is devolved in other areas of the UK.
	In preparing this response, we have consulted widely across government, local authorities, devolved administrations and regulators.

EU Health Ministers: Informal Meeting, 20–21 October

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Minister of State (Rosie Winterton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The United Kingdom presidency hosted an informal meeting of Health Ministers of the European Union on 20 and 21 October chaired by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health.
	The main areas of discussion were:
	pandemic flu preparedness;
	values and common principles in healthcare systems; and
	EU patient mobility.
	EU Health Ministers held an important discussion on pandemic flu preparedness. They dealt with three issues:
	avian flu, where the World Health Organisation stressed that the risk in Europe is very low for the general population;
	seasonal flu, which we are dealing with in the usual way; and
	the risk of pandemic flu.
	The WHO confirmed that there had been no increase in the level of risk for pandemic flu, but of course we need to ensure that we are properly prepared in each of our own countries.
	Ministers agreed to do more to co-ordinate our efforts at European level, and continue to work closely with the WHO, recognising that no country can solve these problems on its own. Commissioner Kyprianou also outlined plans for a preparedness exercise, "Common Ground", next month which will be a simulation exercise focusing on communication between key players in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak.
	On values and common principles in healthcare systems, Ministers discussed that although there is much diversity, there is much that unites the systems in terms of their underpinning values and common principles. Ministers agreed that there was a need to address the challenges that health systems face in terms of ageing society and rising costs, while maintaining these common values and principles. Ministers expressed interest in developing a statement on values and common principles. It also represented an excellent example of the EU delivering social justice in a globalised world, a theme that the heads of government would discuss at their informal meeting at the end of October.
	On EU patient mobility, Ministers noted the co-operation that has existed for decades between our health systems, ensuring that workers, tourists and people who have retired to other member states can get access to care should they fall ill. However, there was also a need to clarify the rights and entitlements that patients should expect when they seek treatment in another EU member state. The choice that patients have was an important right but it must be managed in a structured way, taking account of the differences between national healthcare systems, so that both patients and member states are clear about entitlement.
	Ministers considered that work in these areas could be looked at by the public health working group at a senior level, with the idea of a report back to council at a future Health Council.

Genetically Modified Maize

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Caroline Flint) made the following Written Ministerial Statement on 28 October.
	The Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the European Union met on 24–25 October and voted on a proposal to authorise food ingredients derived from the genetically modified maize line MON863. As the vote did not result in the necessary majority either for or against the proposal, the regulatory committee procedure for implementing powers requires that the proposal is passed back to the European Commission to adopt the implementing act.
	The Government regret that it was necessary to vote on this authorisation, through a scrutiny override, before parliamentary scrutiny has been completed and before the debate recommended by the European Scrutiny Committee. The United Kingdom had previously supported this authorisation because there was adequate evidence that the necessary criteria for authorisation—namely; safety, consumer information and nutritional quality—had been met. In the absence of a clear majority among member states at that stage, the decision was later referred to the council with a deadline of three months for a further vote. It is unfortunate that this period coincided with the Summer Recess and it was therefore not possible to complete the scrutiny process before the vote. I wrote to the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee on 20 October setting out this position. The Government are, none the less, fully committed to the need for national Parliaments to have proper oversight of EU issues and the subject of the authorisation of food ingredients from MON863 maize will be debated in European Standing Committee in due course.

Health Ministers: Ottawa Meeting, 24–25 October

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Minister of State (Rosie Winterton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Canadian Minister of Health, Ujjal Dosanjh, convened an international meeting of Ministers of Health in Ottawa on 24–25 October to discuss global pandemic influenza readiness. I attended for the United Kingdom.
	There were Health Ministers and delegates from 30 countries covering all parts of the world.
	There was participation at the highest level from a number of UN and other international agencies dealing with various sectoral aspects of preparing for pandemic flu, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), World Bank, and the recently appointed UN co-ordinator for pandemic influenza. The European Commission was also represented.
	The purpose of the meeting was to raise the political priority attached to international collaboration in preparing for a human influenza pandemic, to stress the need for transparency between countries and institutions, and to give full support to the leading role of multilateral institutions.
	Four themes were discussed:
	the need for inter-sectoral collaboration on animal and human health issues;
	improving surveillance and capacity-building;
	vaccine and anti-viral development, supply and access; and
	risk communication.
	A communique was agreed. A copy has been placed in the Library. It sets out in more detail the priority areas agreed on for further action, and lists some key current and forthcoming activities round the world. A list of all participating Ministers is attached to the communique.
	The main conclusions were:
	there is a need to distinguish between avian flu (birds), seasonal flu and pandemic flu;
	a call for increased research on avian influenza viruses, including their ability to spread from animals to humans;
	there is a need to increase capacity for early detection, diagnosis and response, and for exchange of information between the agriculture and health sectors at the local, national and international levels;
	the need for expansion and integration of the network of relevant WHO collaborating centres and FAO-OIE reference laboratories, for the rapid identification of virus strains;
	the need to develop bio-security guidelines for the poultry sector to help farming communities ensure appropriate animal and public health standards for the raising, handling and transporting of potentially flu-bearing animals; and
	the need to develop effective partnerships with media and other key stakeholders for the exchange and dissemination of information.
	Ministers recognised the need to build capacity and plan in all countries, facilitated by appropriate national and international investments and resource sharing. But all stressed the need to work through and with multilateral organisations. In particular, they welcomed the upcoming WHO/FAO/World Bank meeting on avian and pandemic influenza in Geneva from 7–9 November, where many of the issues they managed to highlight in a relatively short meeting will be looked at further.
	The meeting was successful in raising political awareness and commitment across all WHO regions of the need both for avian influenza control measures as well as the need to strengthen preparedness for pandemic influenza in humans.
	Ministers noted a number of activities already ongoing or planned in regions around the world, and some additional activities were proposed, including a meeting next year of regulatory authorities to address common regulatory challenges to expedite vaccine registration and availability.

Railways: Health and Safety Executive SPAD Reports

Lord Davies of Oldham: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Derek Twigg) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	I have agreed with the recommendations put forward by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety (PACTS), the Office of Rail Regulation and the industry to change the publication of the Health and Safety Executive's reports on signals passed at danger (SPADs) from a monthly basis to a quarterly one.
	I have agreed to make this change because quarterly SPAD figures provide a more statistically valid period for the trend analysis.
	On 31 October HSE published the monthly SPAD report for September 2005. The next report will be on 31 January 2006 covering the period 1 October 2005 to 31 December 2005.
	Up-to-date information on SPADs on a monthly basis will continue to be available in the detailed reports published each month on their website by the Rail Safety and Standards Board.